Lindsey Fraser was coming home from walking her dog when she saw a mass of black smoke coming from nextdoor.

She said: “I have never been so scared in all my life. Neighbours car had exploded next to my car.”

A man driving by stopped and helped get her neighbours family out of their house and also got Mrs Fraser’s daughters out of her house while the car burned fiercely on the drive.

The car blazing away on the drive

Ben Jepson is believed to be the hero who stopped to save the families.

He posted on Facebook to say: “Just called 999 cleared the area. Broke a fence down pulled and boy and his mum onto the next property into safety as the house had caught fire. Then cleared the daughter out of the house. Glad everyones ok.”

John Taylor from Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service said: “All credit to have-a-go-hero Ben Jepson for his quick thinking and courage in doing what he did in getting people to safety and without injuries, not least to Ben himself.”

He said they were called to a car fire on a driveway at 1.31pm on Thursday.

They used breathing apparatus to tackle the fire at close quarters on the drive of a home on Stratford Drive.